OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3830, 9 August 1927, Page 14

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) 'CONTINUED EXPORT DEMAND FOR RAW MATERIAL. BRADFORD, June 2. I am pleased to be able to say that since sending my last report there have been certain developments in London and Bradford which are favourable to the raw material, and which point to a continued healthy demand and at least fairly firm prices for crossbreds. For several weeks past this class of raw material has not been regarded as being really as sound as merinos. From various sources there has been a fair demand for fine wools, and the known scarcity has also helped to strengthen the belief that values would be sustained for some time to come. In crossbreds the real weakness has been in medium and low sorts, particularly the former. Coarse crossbred wool is becoming rather scarce. It was noticeable at the last London sales

that the clean scoured cost of 36’s was quite as much as 40’s, and that there was no difference between the cost of tops made from these qualities. When 40’s wool is costing 16id clean scoured and the cost of the top is 20Jd, and 36_’s cannot be had at any lower price, it is obvious that there is something exceptional about cither the demand for or supply of the coarser wool. . The real scarcity, how’ever, is in qualities below 36’s. It is still more anomalous to find that 32’s tops are selling at the same price as 40’s in Bradford to-day. It has been recently stated that qualities of wool below r 3G’s are now becoming almost non-existent in Australia and New Zealand; consequently they are dear compared with other crossbred wool which is only a few counts finer. The special point of interest, however, in connection with crossbred wool is that an improved demand has recently developed, and it is gratifying to know that the sales of crossbreds in London have been made at prices very little below the limits on which they were taken out of the last sales. The operations have been principally in scoured crossbreds and New Zealand slipes of medium quality. With regard to the buying in Bradford, the operations have all been in matchings from 40’s to 58’s quality. Local topmakers have participated in the buying of these wools, and some are no doubt wanted for topmaking purposes; but it is understood that a fair weight is for export. This export demand is indeed one of the principal factors to-day’ in keeping up prices for all classes of raw material. It is frequently emphasised, particularly by spinners and manufacturers. that the present standard of raw material values is dictated by outside

influences, and that if the home trade could have its full say it would not be very’ long before at least some slight depreciation came about. ENGLISH WOOL FAIRS. This is the time of the year when Bradford merchants begin to think about buying the English clip. A list of sales has already been published, and this shows a. regular selling programme from the middle of June to the latter part of August. During the whole of those three months sales will be held at one centre or another, the earliest taking place in the South of England. Oxfordshire is in the Down wool-growing area of England, and when sales are held in that district hosiery manufacturers from Leicester are always in attendance, considerable quantities of wool being bought for knitted goods of various kinds. Later in the season auctions are held in the more northerly centres, most of the Scottish sales taking place in the month of August, though there are sales at Edinburgh and Leith in July. In those two centres, as well as in Glasgow, nearly all the wools offered are of the mountain type, and from Glasgow considerable quantities of Scotch wool are sold for export, some going to the United States and some to the Continent. Good weights also come to Bradford and Halifax, these being held against any requirements which may develop subsequently. The English wool market has a very interesting history, and the conditions under which trade is now carried on have become vastly differ-

ent from the common practice of a century ago. At that period it was the general thing for farmers to sell their wool privately, and a good deal of time was wasted in the bargaining process. Private negotiation has not yet died out, but it is now mostly confined to the remote country districts. Some farmers still make quite a little business of going round the districts in which they live to buy all the small clips they can lay hold of. These are collected and sent in bulk consignments to such centres as Bradford and Halifax. In all the outside country districts there are buyers who carry on in a similar way, and their wool either goes to the nearest centre for public auction or is consigned to Bradford. Many large farmers nowadays send their clips direct to the nearest auction centre, and there is no doubt that the selling of wool m this way provides the best competitive prices. COMBING AND CLOTHING WOOL. The attempts made through the United States Government to protect the domestic wool-growing industry has given rise to various anomalies, and it is quite evident that at one time and another some rather remarkable ignorance has been displayed respecting the real meaning of wool terms commonly used in Bradford. In recent legal proceedings the Supreme Court decided that the phrase “ wool commonly known as clothing wool ” used in section 18 of the American Emergency Tariff of 1921 included both combing and carding wool. The result of this decision is to reverse that of the Court of Customs Appeals, which said that for import duty purposes there was a difference between the two descriptions. About two years ago the Court of Appeals was called upon to consider a ease involving 12 importations of wool and one of yarn, these being bought during the operation of the Emergency Act. It was held that the yarn was advanced in manufacture and therefore dutiable at 45 cents per lb and 18 per cent, ad valorem, while the wool being of the combing type was excluded from the Emergency Tariff Act and en- | titled to be imported free of duty. Quite I rightly a distinction was made by experts I between clothing and combing wool, their evidence being that the term “ clothing ” applied only to wool of short fibre; but the Supreme Court ruled that the United States Congress intended to place a duty upon all wool used for the manufacture of cloth. It is well known that very low quality wools suitable for carpet manufacturing purposes can be imported into the States free of duty, and some confusion appears to have arisen as to the meaning of the word “ clothing ” as applied to the raw material. The interpretation put upon it by the Supreme Court was, that “ clothing ” wool was intended for the manufacture of cloth just the same as combing, and that therefore they came in the same category for dutiable purposes. Such incidents as these show what a difficult and complicated task lies before any authority in the States which is responsible for placing duties on imported wool and for making any distinction between one class and another. It is very questionable indeed whether the so-called attempts to protect the American woolgrowers have given them the slightest advantage. Some Bradford traders are closely interested in the American wool market. There are representatives of American houses in Bradford who buy in London during the sales, and who during the interval conduct private business. These frequently receive information from the States respecting the trade there, and the latest is none too good. Whilst the public are spending money quite freely, some uneasiness has developed in banking circles. The method of arranging loans across the Atlantic is not quite so strict as in England. Much larger overdrafts are allowed, and traders who speculate extensively in raw material may ultimately find themselves in a tight corner owing to a sudden demand from the banks to realise. Big weights of wool may come on to the market at an inopportune moment, and unfortunately for other firms probably of longer standing and more extensive connections the price at -which the bank sells the wool becomes the market price of the day. Such features aS these have to be carefully watched by Bradford houses doing an American trade, and local representatives are not at all satisfied with conditions as they find them at the present time.